Diagnosis: 24-33 pairs of slime pores in front of the gill openings, 51-70 between the gill openings and the anus, and 10-13 posterior to the anus, giving a total count of 88-102 slime pores. Total cusp count of teeth 32-36 (Fig. B). Usually six pairs of internal gill pouches. Size: in the eastern Atlantic lengths were reported to be between 600 and 790 mm. Anatomical details are given by Marinelli & Strenger (1956), and systematical information is given by Fernholm (1981).

Habitat: littoral to meso-abyssal (20-600 m) on muddy bottom. In Norwegian fjords reported to occur to 1,100 m. Food: see family. Reproduction: eggs are few in number (19-30) and large (20-25 mm), the horny shell has a cluster of anchor-tipped filaments at each end (Fig. C).

Distribution: Mediterranean Sea around African coast (Dieuzeide, 1956), absent in eastern Mediterranean and Black Seas; Atlantic coast from Portugal to the North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat and Varanger Fjord; from Davis Strait to Florida (unpublished). Abundant in many areas.

Günther, A.1870. Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum. 8. Catalogue of the Physostomi containing the families Gymnotidae, Symbranchidae, Muraenidae, Pegasidae and of the Lophobranchii, Plectognathi, Dipnoi, Ganoidei, Chondropterygii, Cyclostomata, Leptocardii in the collection of the British Museum. London, xxv+549 p.

Garman, S. 1899. Reports on a exploration off the west coasts of Mexico, Central and South America, and off the Galapagos Islands in charge of Alexander Agassiz, by the U.S. Fish Commission Steamer 'Albatross' during 1891, Lieut. Commander Z. L. Tanner, U.S.A. commanding. XXVI. The Fishes. Mem. Mus. comp. Zool. Harv., 24 :1-431, 97 pl., I map.